County Route 115 (Tompkins County, New York)

County Route 115
Route information
Maintained by Tompkins County Highway Division
Length: 12.90 mi[1] (20.76 km)
Major junctions
South end: Tioga County line (becomes CR 33)
North end: NY 79 in Dryden
Highway system

Numbered highways in New York
Interstate • U.S. • N.Y. (former) • Reference • County (Tompkins)

← CR 114 CR 116 →
← NY 329 NY 331 →

County Route 115 (CR 115) is a northwest–southeast county highway located mostly within the town of Caroline in Tompkins County, New York, United States. It extends for 12.8 miles (20.6 km) from the Tioga County line south of the hamlet of Speedsville to an intersection with New York State Route 79 (NY 79) just north of the Caroline town line in the town of Dryden. The highway continues into Tioga County as CR 33.

The portion of CR 115 north of the hamlet of Guide Board Corners was originally designated as New York State Route 330 and maintained by the state of New York. The route existed from the early 1930s to 1980, when ownership and maintenance of the highway was transferred to Tompkins County. Following the swap, the former routing of NY 330 became part of an extended CR 115.

Contents

Route description

CR 115 begins at the Tioga County line in the town of Caroline, where it connects to Tioga County's CR 33. The county highway passes a mountain to the west and the Owego River's west branch to the east as it heads northward. It crosses Boyer Creek as 76 Road and enters the hamlet of Speedsville, a small community located on top of a mountain. Here, CR 115 turns to the northwest to run along the base of a valley surrounding Boyer Creek. The creek reaches its source at an intersection with Yaple Road; however, CR 115 continues northwestward to serve the hamlet of Caroline Center.[1]

Outside of Caroline Center, CR 115 heads northwestward through a small valley to the community of Guide Board Corners. In the center of the hamlet, CR 115 turns north off 76 Road to follow Central Chapel Road. The highway emerges from the valley 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Guide Board Corners, at which point it meets CR 114, a connector to NY 79, and curves westward as Valley Road. CR 115 parallels the Sixmile Creek into the hamlet of Brooktondale, where it changes names once more to become Brooktondale Road. From Brooktondale, the route heads northwest alongside Sixmile Creek into the town of Dryden, where it ends at an intersection with NY 79.[1]

Routes in Tompkins County were initially unsigned;[2] however, Tompkins County recently started posting their county roads with the MUTCD-standard blue pentagon shields.

History

Origins

In the early 19th century, construction commenced on a highway connecting the Catskill Turnpike (modern NY 79) to the hamlet of Speedsville near the Tioga County line. It began at Boiceville (known today as West Slaterville) and passed through the communities of Guide Board Corners and Caroline Center on its way to Speedsville. The roadway was built by community labor during the summers of 1804 through 1808 and was named "76 Road". According to the Bicentennial history of the Town of Caroline, the name refers to the Revolutionary War:[3]

The first bee for cutting the road through was held near Augustine Boyer's on 4 July 1804. It was opened and dedicated ... by the settlers on July 4, 1808. Mr. Boyer was requested to name the road. He replied that he would name it the " '76 Road". Mr. Boyer explained that he had spent seven days obtaining the services of the commissioners and surveyors to lay out the road, and these days were representative of the seven years of the Revolutionary struggle, and since the day was 4 July, and the spirit of '76 was in the air, and other spirits in their bottles, he would give the name of " '76 Road" in honor of the spirit of cooperation and dedication that the people had in working together on the project, and to honor the memory of those who worked together in laying the foundations of our country in 1776.
—Caroline Historical Society, A History of the Town of Caroline, Tompkins County, New York, United States of America[3]

In the early 1910s, the state of New York upgraded a local highway connecting the Catskill Turnpike near the hamlet of Besemer to Brookton (now Brooktondale). It was added to the state highway system on November 4, 1914. The state also intended on improving an extension of the roadway east to 76 Road and 76 Road itself from the modern junction of Boiceville, Valley, and Central Chapel Roads south to Speedsville;[4] however, construction advanced no farther southeastward than Guide Board Corners. The Brookton – Guide Board Corners highway was added to the state highway system sometime after 1920.

Designations and developments

The Besemer – Guide Board Corners state highway was designated as NY 330 ca. 1931.[5][6] Around the same time, the portion of 76 Road from Speedsville to Guide Board Corners was designated as CR 115. The NY 330 designation was removed on January 24, 1980,[7] and ownership and maintenance of its former routing was transferred from the state of New York to Tompkins County on April 1, 1980, as part of a highway maintenance swap between the two levels of government.[8] As a result, CR 115 was extended northward to NY 79 along NY 330's former routing.[9]

In late June 2006, the Tompkins County Highway Division closed off 76 Road (CR 115) from Central Chapel Road to Caroline Center due to underground damage caused by heavy rains. Vehicular traffic weighing more than 5 short tons (4,500 kg) was detoured at Speedsville to follow West Creek Road to NY 79 while traffic weighing less than 5 tons was directed onto Buffalo Hill Road at Caroline Center.[10] The road later reopened.

CR 115M

CR 115M is a spur route of CR 115 in the vicinity of Speedsville. It is named Mill Road and connects CR 115 in Speedsville to the Tioga County line, where it becomes CR 33 and changes names to West Creek Road.[9][11]

Major intersections

The entire route is in Tompkins County.

Location Mile[1] Destinations Notes
Caroline 0.00 CR 33 Continuation into Tioga County; to NY 38
CR 114 (Boiceville Road) Southern terminus of CR 114
CR 113 (White Church Road)
CR 113A (Perkins Valley Road) Hamlet of Brooktondale; southern terminus of CR 113A
CR 175 (Besemer Road) Southern terminus of CR 175
Town of Dryden 12.90 NY 79
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ a b c d Yahoo! Inc. Yahoo! Maps – overview map of CR 115 (Map). Cartography by NAVTEQ. http://maps.yahoo.com/#mvt=m&lat=42.349102&lon=-76.339125&zoom=13&q1=42.296707%2C-76.254661&q2=42.382656%2C-76.380146&q3=42.402655%2C-76.423834. Retrieved July 22, 2009. 
  2. ^ Perry, Nathan (2008). "Tompkins County Routes". Empire State Roads. http://www.empirestateroads.com/cr/crtompkins.html. Retrieved May 12, 2008. 
  3. ^ a b A History of the Town of Caroline, Tompkins County, New York, United States of America. Revised and compiled by Barbara B. M. Kone. Slaterville Springs, New York: Caroline Historical Society. 1994. 
  4. ^ New York State Department of Highways (1920). Report of the State Commissioner of Highways. Albany, New York: J. B. Lyon Company. pp. 250, 468, 469. http://books.google.com/books?id=Sj4CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA250. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 
  5. ^ Standard Oil Company of New York (1930). Road Map of New York (Map). Cartography by General Drafting. 
  6. ^ Kendall Refining Company (1931). New York (Map). Cartography by H.M. Gousha Company. 
  7. ^ New York State Department of Transportation (January 2009) (PDF). Official Description of Highway Touring Routes, Bicycling Touring Routes, Scenic Byways, & Commemorative/Memorial Designations in New York State. https://www.nysdot.gov/divisions/operating/oom/transportation-systems/repository/2009%20tour-bk.pdf. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 
  8. ^ New York State Legislature. "New York State Highway Law § 341". http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 
  9. ^ a b New York State Department of Transportation (1994). Speedsville Digital Raster Quadrangle (Map). 1:24,000. http://www.nysgis.state.ny.us/gisdata/quads/drg24/dotpreview/index.cfm?code=v28. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 
  10. ^ "News Details - Old 76 Road Closing". Tompkins County, New York. June 29, 2006. Archived from the original on November 27, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071127060958/http://www.co.tompkins.ny.us/news/detail.aspx?ContentID=577. Retrieved April 10, 2008. 
  11. ^ "County Roads". Tompkins County Highway Division. http://www.tompkins-co.org/highway/roads.html. Retrieved November 6, 2010. 

External links